Christopher takes stage with HS troupe

Christopher was one of the dozen cast member in a production of "Crazytown" at Hilliard Darby High School this weekend.

The comedy, by Jonathan Rand, consists of a series of sketches depicting life in "the most messed-up town in America." It was produced and performed by the school's X-Theatre, which presents shows that are produced, directed and performed by students.

"It was a small, student-directed production where everyone had multiple parts," writes Christopher's mom, Cathy.
Cathy adds: "We also had our band solo and ensemble event over the weekend. Both Christopher and Stephanie were in ensembles that earned a superior rating!"

Another happy couple in our extended family

Romantic news from Rochester: Kathy and Daniel are engaged!

(For those in other branches of the family: Kathy is the daughter of Susan and Dave; Susan is the sister of Lisa, who is married to Doug and mother of Liz and Rebecca.)

Kathy and Daniel -- what fine names! -- have been dating long enough to have made two appearances at Doug & Lisa's annual Thanksgiving Weekend gatherings.

Here they are with the group in 2013: At center rear is Daniel (his beard was shorter), seated next to Kathy and her parents:

2013 file photo

Winter gives it another try in Northeast

So far this winter hasn't brought anything like the snows of 2013-14 to the Northeast coast. But an early Saturday snowfall left close to six soggy inches on the ground around the Birch Street Web headquarters in New Jersey.

It won't last -- the snow turned to rain by midday -- but more may be coming early in the week. Happy winter!

Got snow? Share your winter scenes with Birch Street Web!

A quick visit to New Orleans for Doug & Lisa

Jackson Square, New Orleans

Doug and Lisa had the chance recently to spend a few days in New Orleans just after New Year's. Lisa summed up the trip as "walking tours, biking tour, lots of music, food and just a few drinks."

Here are a few photos Lisa posted on Facebook.

Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis, King of France

New Orleans Musical Legends Park

Freezing beauty: A January beach scene

A cold day in January isn't exactly what we think of as "beach weather," but at least the sun was out at Corporation Beach in Dennis, Mass., on Thursday. The result was this great icy scene captured by Gerrit.

"Doesn't feel a degree over 0," Gerrit said. In fact, with both the temperature and the wind speed in the teens, the wind-chill factor really was just about zero.

Where we live: A map of the Birch Street Web

Just for fun: Here's a map of places where members of our extended family are living. See how many places you can match to people you know!

Fun fact: Google Maps says it would take 97 hours to drive this 6,225-mile route non-stop. Road trip!

Here's a closer view of the Northeast. Click either map for a larger view. And let us know what we've forgotten to include!

New Year's greetings from Florida

Rachel donned this festive headdress to celebrate the arrival of 2015. She and her mom, Cindi, send Happy New Year wishes to all the family.

New Year's celebration, winter-sports style

Liz and Rebecca spent the first afternoon of the new year cheering on their beloved Washington Capitals at the National Hockey League's Winter Classic.

Each year on or about New Year's Day, the league holds a regular-season game in an outdoor stadium. The 2015 game was held at National's Park, home of Washington's National League baseball team.

It turned out to be an exciting game, with a happy result for the home-team fans.

The Capitals went ahead 2-0 in the first period, but Chicago Blackhawks scored once in the first and once in the second. Then, with 12 seconds left in the game, the Capitals' Troy Brouwer scored the tiebreaker for a 3-2 victory.

Best wishes to all for a wonderful 2015!

Christmas gathering in Yonkers, 2014 Edition

-- Updated 1/24/15 with more photos --

Kevin and Kathy were the hosts of this years traditional Christmastime gathering in Yonkers. Here's a photo of the happy crowd, with the newly engaged Shanna and Rick front and center.

Here are a few more-candid photos of the festivities, including a couple of alternate takes of the group portrait.

Scenes of Christmas 2014 (Send us yours!)

---Updated 12/27---

We hope everyone in our extended family had a very Merry Christmas! We're collecting snapshots of the festivities, and here's what we have so far.

Hugh and Dolores are spending the holidays visiting daughter Cathy and grandchildren Christopher and Stephanie in Ohio. A couple of days before Christmas, they all visited the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus.

In addition to its horticultural displays, the conservatory was exhibiting the entries in a gingerbread-house contest and some glass sculptures.

Cathy has shared a collection of photos from the conservatory that you can see here.

Grandpa Hugh sent along this photo of Chris & Stephanie unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.

At Birch Street HQ in New Jersey, it was a traditional Christmas morning with Dan, Julie, Christine and Andy opening gifts around the tree.

From Virginia, here's a shot of Xander in high-anticipation mode on Christmas Eve. He and parents Marie and Brian had a fine time opening their gifts on Christmas morning.

One of Xander's favorites was this Nerf bow-and-arrow set. He had a great time playing with it in the yard on a very mild Christmas afternoon.

Meanwhile, Courtney flew up from Florida to New York on Christmas Eve to visit her mom, Nanette. They're spending time in the city and at Nanette's place on Shelter Island.

Send us your Scenes of Christmas!

Shanna and Rick are engaged!

Christmas brings some special news to our family: Shanna and Rick are now engaged to be married.

Sources tell The Birch Street Web that Rick proposed and Shanna accepted on Christmas Eve. They have not yet set a wedding date.

Jersey boy Rick is a graduate student at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. Shanna is a teacher at the Ann & Andy preschool in Elmsford. N.Y.

We expect to have more details soon, so check back!

Merry Christmas to all our family

This Nativity scene was displayed for many years at the home of Daniel and Lorraine and their family. Brien now has it at his home and shares this photo with Merry Christmas wishes to all.

Still more signs of the season

We hope everyone's having fun, or at least not getting too stressed, preparing for Christmas.

Above, Birch Street Web headquarters looking festive. At right, the tree at Cathy, Chris and Stephanie's home.

Signs of Christmas are growing

Some of us are more ready that others for the approaching holiday!

Clearly, Xander is more than ready for Christmas to arrive in Virginia.

And from Clearwater, Fla., Rachel and Cindi share the photo below of their well-decked tree.

Brien joins jam session at Yonkers tavern

Brien has been spending some Tuesday nights taking part in a weekly jam session at one of the establishments on McLean Avenue in his Yonkers neighborhood.

"This is me wailing away (and singing!)," Brien writes. He says the jam nights at the Heritage Bar and Restaurant are "a lot of fun."

One of the organizers took this photo of Brien taking the lead. "I was singing Steppenwolf's 1970 version of 'Corina Corina,' an old blues song dating back to the 20's."

Signs of the coming season

Cathy sends along these photos of winter's arrival at Deep Creek in westernmost Maryland, where she stopped en route from Ohio to Baltimore for Thanksgiving weekend.

Looks pretty - and cold!

Meanwhile, some of us are preparing for Christmas, which is fast approaching. Shanna and her boyfriend, Rick, visited a farm in Connecticut over the weekend and picked out a tree for her family's home in Yonkers.

Happy birthday(s) to Brooklyn Rae and her Dad

It was three years ago today that Brooklyn Rae was born to Shauna-Rae and Brennan on her dad's birthday. We wish daughter and dad a wonderful birthday!

Brennan continues serving at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Base in North Carolina. He'll complete his tour of duty in the fall - or might be discharged early, possibly as soon as January.

In anticipation of that, Brennan and Shauna-Rae have bought a house in Broadalbin, N.Y., about 25 miles west of Saratoga Springs. Shauna-Rae, Brooklyn and little brother Brennan, who's four months old, have already moved, and the photos below were taken there in late October.

Brennan was able to come north to spend Thanksgiving weekend with his family. In January, he plans to begin taking online courses toward his next career. "He wants to teach high school history and coach sports," reports his mother, Mary.